Troopers: Man entered USCG restricted area; gun, drugs foundThe U.S. Coast Guard Military Police stopped a vehicle operating in a restricted area after which troopers found drugs and a gun in the vehicle and arrested the driver, a trooper report said Friday. The military police contacted the troopers on Thursday at 8:27 a.m. after stopping Larry Goss, 54, of Kodiak, who was “driving in a restricted area of the Kodiak Coast Guard Base Property,” according to the report. Tro...

Ferries to continue regular service with budget passageNormal ferry operations will continue past July 1 as a result of the Alaska legislature passing an operating budget, the Alaska Marine Highway announced in a release Friday. “AMHS apologizes to our loyal customers and the traveling public for the turmoil and confusion this budget uncertainty may have caused,” the release said. AMHS originally announced on June 1 that ferry operations would cease on July 1 if a bud...

Post 17 sweeps KenaiDown to the game’s final strike, Aaron Hocum didn’t flinch. The rising senior looped Joey Becher’s 1-2 offering over the head of the shortstop that brought in the tying and go-ahead run in Kodiak Post 17’s dramatic 3-2 American Legion AA league victory over Kenai Post 20 Saturday at Baranof Field. The come-from-behind effort capped an opening weekend doubleheader sweep of the Peninsula-based team. The Bears slugge...

Council passes 2016 budget including funding for trail mappingThe Kodiak City Council passed its fiscal year 2016 budget after amending it to include increased funds for the Chamber of Commerce, Discover Kodiak, a new truck for the Public Works Department and an increase in funds received from the state. “We received information from the state Department of Corrections that we would be getting a little bit more money, certainly not as much as we got under our previous year, ...

We are the home of the OrthodoxyTo the Editor, The blue domes of the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Cathedral are more than a pretty photo-op for visitors, and the relics inside are not museum artifacts, but objects of a living spiritual tradition. The heartbreaking vandalism of the church offers us the opportunity to remember that we are a special place because of that church. We are a place of worldwide pilgrimage. Moreover, we are the spi...

GARDEN GATE: When is the best time to water your plants?Last week, the National Weather Service issued an advisory for Southcentral Alaska for unusually warm weather created by an intense high-pressure system, which the NWS says is now “firmly in control over much of the State.” The short and long-term forecast, leading into the longest day of the year, reads the same: Warm and dry. After months of dampness the heat comes as quite a shock for all creatures and plants, ...

43,000 signatures gathered by anti-salmon setnet advocatesA one-handed clap best describes my reaction to the 43,000 signature dropped off by anti-salmon setnet advocates at the Division of Elections last week. It means enough signatures were gathered to include the question on the 2016 primary election ballot, and let Alaska voters decide whether to ban setnets at Cook Inlet, Mat-Su, Anchorage, Juneau, Valdez, Ketchikan, and any communities designated as “urban” and “no...

57-hour commercial salmon fishing period opened in sections of Southwest Kodiak There will be a 57-hour commercial salmon fishing period, from noon Monday, June 15 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 17 in the following areas: • The Inner and Outer Ayakulik sections of the Southwest Kodiak District. Waters will be open to the stream terminus of Ayakulik River. • The Outer Karluk Section of the Southwest Kodiak District. There will be a 24-hour extension to the current commercial salmon fishing period, ...

Bryan Ferris retires after 25 years with the districtBryan Ferris’ pants pocket has a bit more room in it these days. Ferris ended his six-year run as Kodiak High School’s activities director on Monday, and in doing so turned over his keys to the school. “It is a strange feeling going from a pack of 15 keys to two keys — one to my truck and one to my house,” said Ferris Wednesday afternoon. Ferris retired after 25 years working for the Kodiak Island Borough School D...

Kodiak and Fairbanks newspapers for sale to 'the right buyer'The Kodiak Daily Mirror and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner are being made available for sale, newspaper Chief Executive Officer William Dean Singleton has announced. The family trusts of Singleton and longtime friend and media partner Richard Scudder purchased the newspaper from C.W. Snedden in 1992. Scudder died in 2012, and Singleton retired in 2013. The two men founded MediaNews Group, which at its height owned...